Heart of the Ocean
by Catharine Carter
Summary: Based off of Titanic, but mostly a request from my good friend Mrs.Rangel16. I hope she's happy with what I've done with it. Pics will be included and maybe a video or two.
1. How We Met

Rose Dawson walked into her Grandmama's room after asking if she could wear one of her necklaces. Her Grandmama was downstairs making dinner and she told her not to take too long and to come right back down after she found one she wanted to wear. Rose always liked looking through her grandmama's jewelry. Her grandpop hadalways bought her the nicest things and that included the nicest jewelry. Rose loved wearing them and her Grandmama didn't mind letting her wear them either. Rose opened the large cherry wood jewelry box and reached in, pulling out the silver chain with the blue heart stone at the end. Her grandmama didn't wear it that often, but Rose did like it a lot. It was very pretty, but her grandmama said it was very old. She had to be careful with it, but her Grandmama would never tell her she could never wear any of her pieces of jewelry. She stood in front of the large mirror atop of the dresser putting the necklace on over the top of her head, smiling as it came down, hanging over her neck. It was gorgeous, probably the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen in her entire life. Rose saw a book on the bed behind her reflected in the mirror and turned to look at it. It was a scrap book, photo album type book. Smiling, she crawled up on the book and opened it to look at the pages. She saw pictures of her grandmama and grandpop smiling back from the pages. She'd never seen these pictures before and had to wonder why. She'd never even seen this book. They were from a long time ago, from when they were younger than her mommy.

"Gabriella Rose Dawson, I thought I told you to come right back down after you found a necklace?" Rose heard her grandmama's voice coming from the stairs and she quickly shut the book, but she couldn't scoot off the bed fast enough and away from the book before her Grandmama came into the room and was caught red handed. Her grandmama's eyes narrowed in on her, but what she couldn't see was the smile hiding behind her grandmama's dark brown eyes. Rose's eyes were a hazel green color she had gotten from her father, something no one in this family had. Rose's mother had blue eyes like Rose's daddy, like Rose's grandpop. Rose's grandmama moved more into the room, closer to Rose sitting on the bed. "Were you looking at that book, Gabriella Rose?" Rose looked back at the book and then back at her grandmama, nodding slowly. "It looked so pretty, Grandmama. I couldn't help but look at it!" Rose's grandmama sat down on the bed, pulling rose up onto her lap. "Would you like to look at it with me?" Rose looked up into her Grandmama's face, smiling brightly and nodding her head, her long, dark braided pig tails moving with her head. "Yes, please. And will you tell me the story?" Rose's grandmama laughed. "The story? What makes you think there's a story?" she asked, pulling the photo album over onto her lap with the two of them. Rose looked up into her grandmama's dark pools of loving eyes. "Grandmama, your picture books _always _have stories!" Rose giggled and her grandmama opened the book. "Alright, my precious one," she said, kissing the top of her granddaughter's head. "I will tell you about the trip where your grandpop and I met."

Rose looked down at the first pictures in the book. Her grandmama always arranged pictures in her scrapbooks in her albums in the order of how events happened. "Where's Grandpop, Grandmama?" Her grandmama looked over the first page smiling down at Rose. "I didn't know your grandpop yet, Precious," she told her, shaking her head. "Look a little closer. Do you see my necklace in these photos?" Rose looked at all the photos on the page and then back up at her grandmama, shaking her own little head, her braids flipping back and forth. "Nope. You didn't _always_ know Grandpop?" Her grandmama laughed at Rose, hugging the little girl tenderly. "Gracious me, little one, no. It was on this trip that I met your grandpop and he bought me both the Heart of the Ocean, but he gave me this necklace," Grandmama said, running her fingers over the T charm that hung from the simple chain around her neck. "It was something his father gave him when he was born and it was the only thing he had from either of his parents to remember them by." Rose nodded her head. "Because they died when he was a really young kid, younger than me." Her grandmama nodded her head softly. "That's right, Gabriella Rose. Did you want me to tell you the story now, precious one?"

Rose nodded, leaning back in her grandmama's arms. "Who's that funny looking man?" Rose didn't sense that her grandmama was holding back her own little giggle as she giggled looking down at a picture of her grandmama and a man who was a good foot taller than her. He had his arm wrapped around her shoulders and they seemed to be happy, well he did. She seemed to be thinking. She had been. Gabriella had been engaged to be married to the man. She was only 23 at the time and she wasn't even sure what she had wanted at the time, but when he had asked her to marry him, she didn't feel like no was the right answer. So yes was the one she had given him. They had decided to celebrate by going on a cruise together. But did she really want to go away with him? And was it the right decision? That was what she had been thinking in that picture. "His name was Noel, sweetie. Noel Jackman. Grandmama was actually going to marry him before she met Grandpop." Rose's eyes shot wide open and she turned her head to look back at her grandmama, mouth as wide as can be. "You were in love before Grandpop!" Grandmama, shook her head, smoothing down the hair on top of her grandbaby's head. "Just sit back and I'll tell you the story. Dinner won't be ready for a while. We have plenty of time, and when I'm all done, you'll understand a whole lot more why I love your grandpop." She kissed her granddaughter's forehead, hugging her gently before the little girl turned back forward, looking down at the photos again, listening as her grandmama began telling her the story of how she and her grandpop met on the cruise that changed both of their lives.


	2. Fly Away

April 10, 2012. I walked onto the Titanic, taking a deep breath. It was exactly 100 years since the original Titanic had shipped out of England. But we were shipping out of San Diego, California. There were no icebergs for thousands of miles. But this was the largest cruise ship ever built, and we were sailing down to Australia. That's where Noel was from, my new f_iancé _was from. F_iancé. _Yes, I was getting married. I'm twenty-two years old and I'm getting married. I was barely out of art school and here I was engaged to be married. I'd known him for more four years. He was still in school, studying to be a lawyer. I loved him. I knew I did, or at least I was sure I did, but when he asked me to marry him, I didn't want to say yes, but I couldn't say no either. I wasn't ready to get married. In fact, I wasn't sure what I wanted out of my life. I wasn't sure what I wanted out of anything anymore. I wasn't sure about anything. I didn't want him to believe that anything was wrong, though. I played the adoring fiancée, not letting him know that I wasn't feeling any of the happiness he was feeling at our pending nuptials. We'd been together for so long, I knew how to behave with him. It wasn't as though I couldn't pretend things were alright. I felt bad things weren't the way he wanted them between us, but I couldn't feel what I didn't. I did love spending time with him. I the way he made me feel, but it wasn't love. It wasn't what he wanted from me. He loved me though. He'd said it, and all I could come up with was me too, same here, or even a weaker... ahuh. I wished I could feel more for him, but I couldn't. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't.

We were shown to our cabin and Noel paid the man who left us alone. He opened the doors to our private promenade, turning back to me. "Isn't this perfect, babe?" I smiled, walking out onto the promenade with him. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, walking out toward the railing with me. "Isn't the water beautiful, Gabby?" I looked up at him, smiling into his eyes. They were the same color as the water below. They were a blue green mixture with a ring of hazel. I did enjoy looking into them. "Very beautiful." He leaned down pressing his lips against mine, but I didn't let it last long, turning my head back down to the water, looking out toward the horizon. "I can't wait till we get to Australia though," he said, thankfully not upset by my abrupt end of the kiss. "The water down there is far more beautiful. You're going to love it even more than these waters." I smiled back up at him. "I can't wait." I let my smile linger a little longer on my lips before stepping out of his arms. "What do you say we go explore the ship a little before dinner? This is my first cruise, remember? I'm really excited and I want to be able to do all we can!" I giggled taking his hand and heading back into the room. "I know we're going to be on the ship for days, but I want to know we've done everything we can!" He laughed at me, walking out of the cabin with me and toward the main part of the ship. "We can do anything you want. We'll have the most fun anyone ever had!" I smiled back at him, heading toward the elevator.

I walked along the top deck with Noel, my hand tucked in his as the soft ocean breeze blew my hair back behind me. "Isn't this perfect? And we've got days to look forward to this. Just you and me and nobody else!" And from behind us we heard a voice screaming out, "Gabrieeeeeeeellllllaaaaa!" I turned with him to see Taylor running toward me, wrapping her arms around me, rocking me from side to side. "I can't believe you're here!" We were supposed to go to Yale together, but when Mama had gotten sick and I decided to stay home and go to the local college, I had to stay in California instead. Not that I ever regretted the decision. I was glad I had gone to art school instead of going all the way across the country to study law at Yale. I would have been an amazing lawyer. I could have even gotten another scholarship if I would have applied to a school in California, but by the time I had to turn down my Yale scholarship it was too late to apply to other colleges for that year and I wasn't going to try for other years and Mama needed me to stay around, so I did. But seeing Taylor again was amazing. Not that I hadn't seen her a few times throughout the years. She had come home to see her parents, so it wasn't as though we were completely cut off from each other and there was email and instant messaging, texting when she had time away from her busy schedule. She pulled back, looking at me, instantly pulling my hand up to look at the ring on my finger. "I cannot believe you are engaged!" I laughed, shaking my head. She looked at the ring closer, looking up at Noel. "Nice to see you again, Noel!"

Noel nodded, proudly, taking a step back closer to me, wrapping his arm around my waist. "A pleasure as always, Taylor. Didn't know you'd be here on this trip." Taylor planted a hand on her hip. "Hold on just a moment there, Noel St. James!" She let go of my hand, planting her other hand on her other hip. "You're not marrying my best friend until you pass the Best Friend Test! Even if I know you, You have to be marriage worthy!" I tried not to laugh, biting my lip. "Taylor!" Noel did chuckle a little himself. "Oh really?" Taylor was completely serious though, or at least her demeanor was, but I knew my best friend better than that. "You think I'm joking, Mr. Platinum Band, Quarter Carat Diamond." Noel looked down at me, impressed with her jewelry. "Well, you'll find out, won't he, Gabs?" I swallowed, nodding slightly. "Oh, yes. Definitely." Taylor turned both of us, linking her arms through each of ours, walking with the two of us down the deck, leading the way. "Now. You will be my dates for a late lunch down in the dining room. I'm starving. I didn't have enough time for breakfast. I caught a red-eye from New Haven and I haven't even slept. They were playing The King's Speech. Yes, it's from last year, but can I say? Helena Bonham Carter should have won Best Actress!" She held up her hands, her fingers stressed in exclamation. "That's all I'm saying. I don't get the big deal about that Black Swan movie, and yes, I did see it. The King's Speech was a whole lot better. Acting was better too." That was one thing I really loved about my best friend. She was highly opinionated about things and she didn't care what anyone else had to think about it.

When we were finished eating, I laid my head against Noel's shoulder, smiling up at him. "Is it alright if I spend some time with Taylor, just the two of us?" Noel smiled down at me, running his fingers through my hair. "You don't have to ask for that, babe. Go ahead. Have fun. I'll go down to the casino. Play some blackjack or craps. Meet you back at the cabin later?" I smiled nodding. "Yeah," I nodded, turning my head up toward his more, offering my lips up to his. He pressed his lips to mine and I pulled back standing up, smiling down at him. Taylor stood with me and I took her hand, walking with her out of the dining room. I'd really much rather be alone, but I hadn't seen my best friend in a long time and I needed to spend time with her. We walked out of the diner, taking the stairs up toward the promenade, out into the open air. I needed to breathe. Noel kept talking about the future and where he saw us living, how many children he saw us having, all of that. I couldn't think let alone breathe. It was horrible. But Taylor was actually starting to like him more and more and I wanted to run away. Not because Taylor liked him, but because I needed to get away. But there wasn't anywhere I could go. By now we were out in the middle of the ocean, no land in sight. What was I supposed to do, jump ship and swim to shore? I was a pretty good swimmer, but I was sure I wasn't that good and I wasn't about to steal a life raft. I just needed some way to fly away. Taylor held my arm as we walked along the side of the boat, looking over the railing. "I think he's really nice, Gabs. Definitely husband material!" Taylor said, looking around a we walked. That was true, I thought to myself. "He is," I agreed, smiling softly. "What is it?" Tay asked, looking over at me. I took a deep breath, shaking my head. "It's all just happening so fast," I told her, not laying it on so thickly. It was the truth, just not all of it. Taylor wrapped her arms around me, resting her head on my shoulder. "I understand," she said, hugging me tightly. "I mean, I've never been in a relationship before, but school always just seems to feel like it's spiraling around me. I never know if I'm going to be able to hold on tightly enough. Before I know it, I'm going to be working in some law firm either out of Boston or New York, maybe out of L.A., but it's going to happen sooner before later and sometimes it scares me more than I'd ever admit to anyone." I smiled at her, looking out over the water.

But I wasn't looking at the water, more so over the horizon. It was bright out and I hadn't brought a hat or sunglasses out with me. But the sun was to our backs and I could deal with the brightness. "I understand, Tay. School's hard, and I only went to art school." I only knew how hard Lawyer school was from Noel. He was going to be just as an amazing of an actor as Taylor was. They should probably open a partnership together. But I wasn't going to even suggest that when I couldn't even think about my future with … not just with Noel, but my future as a whole. I didn't know where my future was taking me. I didn't know where my future was headed after I got off this ship. I was supposed to marry Noel, but I didn't know what I was supposed to do about anything. I had already committed myself to marrying him. I couldn't just tell him no now. I didn't know what to do though. If I could, I would just fly out over the ocean off the boat and as far away from here as possible. I loved Taylor and I was so happy to be here with here, I just wished that I could be away from here. Turning to her, I smiled. "Tay, do you think I could have a moment alone?" She looked at me, concerned, her hand giving mine a gentle squeeze. "Yeah, Gabs, are you alright?" I smiled, about to tell her yes, but I couldn't lie to her. "I just need to have a moment alone." She nodded, placing her hand on my cheek, giving me a soft nod. "Ok, Gabs. I'll be by the pool when you want to come find me." I nodded, taking her hand in mine and giving it a gentle squeeze, turning away from her and walking toward the stern of the ship.


	3. Being Alone

I still couldn't believe I had won two tickets over the radio aboard the Titanic's maiden voyage. And despite my best friend Chad's constant warnings that the ship was going to sink, we were both going. We boarded the ship and headed straight for the buffet. The food, entertainment and everything else on the ship was included in the tickets. "Oh, man! I've never seen so much food in my life!" Chad said, piling more food on his plate than it could hold. I laughed, shaking my head, scooping on some macaroni and cheese next to the huge slice of pizza. "You know, you can come back for seconds, even thirds or fourths." Chad's afro flipped back toward me. "You've gotta be shitting me! I've definitely died and gone to food heaven." I laughed, walking with him over to a table where the waitress had our sodas waiting for us. I sat down and picked up my fork. "Have you seen all the hotties aboard this ship?" Chad asked, sticking his fork into his mac and cheese. "I'm definitely going to be getting the hook up while we're out here!" I laughed, picking up my slice of pizza. "Is that all you ever think about? Girls and basketball?" We'd been playing ball for the University of California Riverside for the last four years, and if it hadn't been for that, we'd both be out on the streets. It's the only way we'd have gotten an education and we got our meals at the campus cafeteria that way. His parents couldn't afford school and my parents were both dead. We both spent all our time on campus, so we didn't have time for an off campus job, so we didn't have much extra money either. Chad and I had been best friends for years and we'd been best friends forever.

"Of course it is," he said, his head drifting up behind me. "See what I mean!" I turned my head to see two girls walking away from us. "What do you say, you go for the brunette, I'll check out the fine sista! She definitely looks like she could give this brotha a good time!" I looked down at my plate and back up at him. "Don't you want to at least eat?" Chad looked back down at his full plate, groaning. "Ah, damn." He sighed, shaking his head. "Yeah, we'll catch up with the fine hotties later. You checked them out good, right?" he asked, picking up a piece of chicken and taking a huge bite off of it. I shook my head. "Yeah. Got a perfect view of their backsides as they were walking away." Chad smirked at me. "Sometimes that's the best view!" I shook my head and took another bite of my pizza. This trip was going to be the best damned spring break trip I'd ever been on. It was going to be the best vacation I'd ever had and I didn't have to spend a dime on it. I still couldn't believe I had won these tickets. And there wasn't anyone else I would bring with me. Chad was my best friend. Hell, he was more than my best friend. His parents had raised me since my parents died. He was more or less my brother. So when we were both accepted to UC Riverside with full-ride scholarships, we couldn't be more excited. We would be together for the long haul, long after each of us had settled down and had families of our own. At least that's what his mother saw for both of us. What the two of us saw neither of us knew yet, but we'd figure it out soon enough. We still had plenty of time to figure it out. Either way, we'd still have each other all the way.

When we were done eating, we headed up toward the top deck. Chad wanted to check out the pool, but I knew it wasn't the pool, or rather one of the pools, he was interested in. He wanted to check out the ladies. He saw the girl from the buffet we had seen leaving with the brunette earlier laying down by the pool and turned to me, placing his hand to my chest. "Oh, man! Is it my lucky day, or what?" I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "Go on," I told him pushing him forward. He grabbed my arm, pulling himself back. "Hey, wait." He looked around, leaning his head in closer to mine. "Would you like me to get her friend's information for you?" I laughed pushing him forward again. "You just go have fun. I'll find my own fun." Chad laughed and I turned to do just that. Leaving Chad alone, I headed off toward... something, anything. It didn't matter what. I was just here to have fun. Not that Chad and I never had fun regularly, but we didn't have school to worry about. This was just about fun in the pacific sun. Nothing but my brother and me spending the best ten days of our lives on a trip we'd never forget. I walked down the deck away from Chad who was probably about to strike out. That girl was way out of his league. I could tell that just by looking at her. I could have told that by looking at her when she and her friend had walked out of the buffet earlier. But Chad never backed down from a challenge. He'd probably spend the entire ten days trying to get the girl to even talk to him and not even pay attention to any other girl. He was a determined man and didn't back down from any thing, even when it came to his grades. He wasn't the best, especially when it came to math, but when a class would smack him down, he'd not rest until he'd at least get a C. He wouldn't even settle for a D. He'd get a C or die trying, and that was in college. I made sure Chad got into college with me with a scholarship of an A- GPA.

I had to do better than that. I usually didn't take less than a B, and even then that was in rare cases. I wasn't the smartest, but I definitely wasn't going to sit back and let my college career go away because I'm not caring about it. I had to think about my future. I didn't know what I was doing with it, but I was taking the generic way through it so I could do what I needed to do with it when I did graduate. I was getting a business degree so I could do whatever. I was prepared for whatever life had to throw at me, and I would be able to handle it too. I'd probably do whatever I did with Chad too. Probably open some kind of sports shop with him, selling sports goods. We'd talked about it before, and it would actually be quite a bit of fun. Chad was my best friend and working together would be the best thing in the world. We had planned on a few more years at Riverside and then we'd graduate. We could open our shop any time between now and then. Actually, the sooner the better, even if it would mean we'd be more stressed out with classes and playing on the team than we already were. But if we owned the shop, we could open and close it whenever we wanted. It would be our shop. Then again, it wouldn't be wise to shut down the shop for games and such. It would be best to wait till after our last season was over. Chad wouldn't see it that way, but we had to have a steady head on our shoulders, and that would be mine. He was good with people, he had charisma, there was no denying that. Not that I wasn't, but I would still say Chad was better at it than I was. We were a natural for this business, so I thought we should really start discussing it. It would be happening sooner rather than later.

I headed back toward the stern of the ship, finding myself drawn back here for some reason. Not many people were gathered back here. Maybe fifteen or twenty. But there was one. And I knew her. Well, no, I didn't know her, but she was familiar. The girl from the buffet, walking out with the girl Chad was trying to … Well, I knew exactly what Chad was trying to do with her. I wasn't going to tell her friend what my friend was intending. I wouldn't interfere with my best friend's chances of getting laid on this trip. If he was going to get laid, I'd let him. He was good at hooking up, and I wasn't going to hinder any of his chances. The brunette was leaning over the back railing, possibly farther than I felt a little too comfortable for, as I leaned my back against it beside her. "Good afternoon." She looked over at me, squinting her eyes and holding her hand over her eyes like a visor, shielding her eyes from the sun. "Hi," I said, holding my hand up to her to introduce myself, "my name's Troy. You are?" She looked me over for a moment before looking back out over the water. I raised my eyes a bit, scratching the back of my head. "No English?" Was that even possible? "Francais?" Yeah, like I'd be able to talk to her. "Italiano?" I shook my head. Still wouldn't be able to say anything more than ciao. "Espaniol?" Again, all I'd get out is adios. I was sunk. If she didn't speak English, I may as well turn tail and walk away. She turned back to me, shading her face from the sunlight again, and holding her other hand up, backwards to me, a huge diamond twinkling in the sunlight. And when I said huge, I meant HUGE. "Engaged," she said, before turning back over the railing.

For some reason, when she said the word _engaged_ I didn't hear happiness in her tone. She said it more matter of factly and just so I didn't impede on another man's _property_. Is that how she saw herself, as another man's possession? I didn't. If she did, then she was mistaken. We certainly didn't live in 1912. We may have been on the Titanic, but we weren't in an age where women had to ask _"How high?"_ whenever their husband told them to jump. In fact, that woman could tell that man to fuck off if she really wanted to. But this girl didn't seem to have that spirit in her. Maybe she wanted to, but something in her was … afraid to. Not maybe of her fiancé, but of doing anything that would break away from the routine she was used to. "What's your name?" I asked, pushing this conversation a little more, turning toward her more. She turned toward me, squinting her eyes again, coming back from how far she was leaning over the railing. "Gabriella," she told me slowly, turning to face me more, holding her hand up to shield her eyes again. I smiled at her, raising my own hand, blocking the sun from her eyes. "Do you have some sunglasses, Gabriella? Maybe you could go down to your cabin and pick them up?" She smiled, but only briefly, shaking her head. "I do, but … I'm sorry I was so rude, I just... I came up here to be alone, and … Well, you being here, I'm not really alone now." I looked up at my hand and back down into her eyes. "I'm sorry I intruded, Gabriella. I just thought... you looked like you could use someone to talk to. Maybe I'll see you around." I smiled at her and turned to leave, but she grabbed my hand. "Maybe..." she started, wrapping her arm around mine, walking with me toward an entrance to the ship, "talking wouldn't be that bad."


End file.
